Don’t Box Me In

From my past posts, it may be obvious that I have quite a few habits when it comes time to write. Maybe they’re excuses to procrastinate, or maybe they really do help me focus more quickly on the task at hand.

One habit that translates through all of my activities is a need to feel organized. Perhaps I have more of a “type A” personality than I’d like to admit, but I fully believe that your space is your own and it’s important to make sure it suits you. If you’re anything like me, then you may also feel that you need to organize your WordPress Dashboard when writing a new blog post.

There are a lot of modules and options available. If you don’t use them all, they may make your post screen feel a bit claustrophobic. Not everyone knows that you can actually modify your Add New Post screen to better suit your needs. To get started, just click on the Screen Options button on the top right hand corner of your page. This lets you choose which modules/boxes you want to display on your page. These changes will show up immediately and your preferences are saved the next time you return.

To minimize, just click on the triangle in the right-hand corner.

You can also move the modules around by clicking on the gray bar at the top and dragging them to a different part of the page. Personally, I like to minimize modules that I’m not using, just to keep things cleaner. To minimize a box, hover over the right corner and click on the small triangle that shows up. You can also save space by using the one column view (click on the “1” next to Number of Columns when looking at your Screen Options). Similarly, you can minimize your left-hand menu by clicking on the Collapse Menu button at the bottom of the menu.

The set up that works best for me is to have to three optional modules available (tags, categories, and recommendations) and keep them minimized while writing. Then, when I need them, I simply expand them and publish. Voila. It helps keep the clutter down to a minimum while allowing me to take full advantage of all the tools WordPress has to offer.